Chapter 7 - The Account That Should Have Been Closed
Emily’s hospital account had been used while she was treating Noah.
The access logs showed her credentials opening archived reports, downloading patient files, and attempting to delete security records.
Information technology staff disabled the account immediately.
Marcus Reed, the hospital chief executive, arrived within the hour.
Marcus was a narrow-faced man with carefully styled gray hair and the habit of sounding calm when everyone else was frightened.
“This could be a credential theft,” he said.
“Or someone with administrative access impersonated her,” Lena replied.
Marcus folded his hands.
“We will cooperate fully.”
Emily watched him.
“Who knew I was here?”
“Half the hospital.”
“Who knew about the old equipment cases?”
Marcus glanced at Julian.
“The Patient Safety Committee.”
Julian remained near the wall.
“And the executive board,” he said.
Marcus looked displeased.
“That information is confidential.”
“So are falsified reports,” Emily said.
Marcus’s face changed.
“Excuse me?”
Emily placed copies of Daniel’s documents on the table.
“These show that safety reports were altered.”
Marcus did not touch them.
“Where did you obtain this?”
“Daniel.”
“Daniel is dead.”
“That does not make the evidence disappear.”
Marcus looked toward Lena.
“I assume counsel should be present.”
“Call whoever you like,” Lena said.
Marcus left the room.
Julian waited until the door closed.
“He’s afraid.”
“Are you?” Emily asked.
Julian met her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel was killed.”
Lena stopped writing.
Emily felt cold.
“You told police his death was an accident.”
“I believed it was at first.”
“What changed?”
Julian walked to the window.
“Two weeks after the crash, I received an envelope. Inside was a copy of a maintenance report Daniel had shown me. The report proved the steering system in his car had been serviced at a Whitaker-owned garage the day before he died.”
Emily stood.
“What was wrong with it?”
“The report showed no problem. But the mechanic who signed it disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“He quit, closed his bank account, and left his apartment.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Julian’s face tightened.
“Because the envelope also contained photographs of Noah at school.”
Emily’s stomach dropped.
“A warning?”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe Daniel’s death was an accident because you were scared.”
“I was trying to keep Noah alive.”
“He almost froze to death anyway.”
Julian looked away.
Lena asked, “Do you still have the envelope?”
“In a bank deposit box.”
“We need it.”
Julian nodded.
Emily stepped closer.
“What did Daniel ask you to do before he died?”
“He wanted access to the hospital’s original safety database.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“Yes.”
“Did you help him copy the reports?”
“Yes.”
“Did you alter them?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Julian looked at the door.
“I believed it was Marcus.”
“Believed?”
“There was no proof.”
“Daniel’s recording said someone he trusted was at Pine Hollow.”
Julian’s eyes widened.
“What recording?”
“The night he died.”
“I wasn’t there.”
Emily searched his face.
“You knew about the meeting.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Daniel called me before he left.”
“What did he say?”
“He said Arthur had agreed to provide names.”
“Names of whom?”
“People connected to Victor’s network.”
“Did he tell you where he was going?”
“Pine Hollow.”
“Then why did you tell police you didn’t know his destination?”
Julian’s voice cracked.
“Because Arthur called me after the crash.”
Emily stared at him.
“What did he say?”
“He said Daniel had been unstable. He said Daniel threatened the family and drove away drunk.”
“Daniel didn’t drink that night.”
“I know.”
“But you repeated Arthur’s story.”
“I was afraid.”
Emily’s anger rose.
“You keep using that word as though it erases what you did.”
“It doesn’t.”
“Your silence protected them.”
“I know.”
“It may have helped them bury a murder.”
Julian lowered his head.
Lena’s phone rang.
She stepped aside to answer.
Emily moved toward Noah’s room.
Through the glass, she saw him sleeping.
Julian followed.
“I loved Daniel.”
“Then you failed him.”
“Yes.”
The answer stopped her.
He did not defend himself.
“I failed him,” Julian repeated. “And I have regretted it every day.”
Emily turned.
“Then tell me everything.”
Julian looked toward the security camera above the corridor.
“Not here.”
“You said that before.”
“Because the hospital is compromised.”
“By whom?”
Before he could answer, the fire alarm sounded.
Red lights flashed.
A recorded voice instructed everyone to evacuate.
Nurses moved toward patient rooms.
Emily ran to Noah.
Tasha was already disconnecting nonessential equipment.
“There’s no smoke,” Tasha said.
Julian looked down the corridor.
“This is not a fire.”
The lights went out.
Emergency power activated seconds later.
In that brief darkness, someone entered Noah’s room.
Emily heard a movement behind her.
She turned.
A figure in maintenance clothing stood beside the medication pump.
One gloved hand held a syringe.
Emily lunged.
The figure struck her shoulder and rushed toward the door.
Julian blocked the exit.
They crashed into the wall.
The syringe fell.
The attacker shoved Julian aside and disappeared into the evacuation crowd.
Lena arrived with two officers.
“What happened?”
Emily picked up the syringe using a towel.
The barrel contained a clear liquid.
Tasha examined the medication port.
“He was about to inject it into Noah’s line.”
Emily felt terror turn into rage.
Lena ordered the corridor locked down.
Julian sat against the wall with blood on his lip.
Emily looked at him.
“You stopped him.”
Julian wiped his mouth.
“I told Daniel I would protect Noah.”
The fire alarm ended.
Hospital staff confirmed there had been no fire.
The syringe was sent to the laboratory.
Twenty minutes later, the result returned.
Potassium chloride.
In a concentrated dose, it could stop a child’s heart and appear like a complication of hypothermia.
The hospital security system had failed during the alarm.
Every camera on Noah’s floor had gone dark.
Every camera except one.
A small portable camera Daniel had installed years earlier inside Emily’s office clock.
The live feed was still connected to her private phone.
It had captured the attacker removing his mask.
Emily watched the image.
The man was not Victor Hale.
May you like
He was Samuel Price.
The truck driver who claimed to have found Noah.
